I learned a lot from listening to Ramon Leon, who runs the Latino Economic Development Center from an office on the second floor of a renovated building on Lake Street, across from the Mercado Central. He came to Minnesota in 1991, and with others he met in church, began to address the problems that plagued the then-tiny Latino community in Minneapolis. Their idea was to use economic development to break through barriers of racism, and impediments to access to education and health care. The result was the Mercado Central and a vital, growing neighborhood that Leon says has $300 million in buying power and potential for to make enormous economic contributions state-wide.

“If we are generating jobs, and we are improving the tax base and we are improving the neighborhoods, we are a benefit to the community.”

It’s not just that immigrants take jobs others don’t want. Leon says their new communities are key to Minnesota’s vitality because they bring buying power, a tax base and per-pupil money to school districts that need it.

By making life difficult for undocumented immigrants, Leon says communities are hurting themselves. “We are a lot safer in our communities by knowing who lives and works in our communities, not by not knowing…They don’t have access to a driver’s license, which forces them to do other things like driving without insurance. People who don’t have access to government i.d. carry cash and they are easy targets for criminals.

Leon’s case has been hurt by politicians who say undocumented immigrants are criminals. Especially in greater Minnesota, Leon has found people who are fearful because that’s how Latinos have been labeled:

“It is the natural way to react when you don’t know people. We have a shared responsibility to let people know who we are, why we are here and how they can benefit from our energy and our determination to succeed. We are no different…their ancestors who came to this country for the same reason. The only difference is, we are a different color.”